Ma v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)

An application is officially received by CIC only when all required documents are received.

S. 10(5) of the IRPR applies to inland spousal sponsorship agreements

CIC does not owe a duty of procedural fairness regarding an application that has been set aside as an additional application under s. 10(5) of the IRPR.

Facts

Ma sought to set aside the decision of a CIC processing officer refusing to process an inland application for permanent residency.

Ma married Yuxiand Zo, a permanent resident of Canada, in 2013. In the fall of 2013, Ma made an overseas application for permanent residency in the family class. He simultaneously made an inland application for permanent residency in the spouse or common-law partner class. The applications were received by CIC on the same day but both were incomplete. The missing forms for the overseas application were received by CIC on December 16th, while the missing forms for the inland application were received on December 31st.

The processing officer refused to process the inland application as it violated s. 10(5) of the IRPR which states that an applicant cannot submit a sponsorship application if said applicant is still awaiting a final decision on a previous application. The officer refused to process the inland application as it had been completed later than the overseas application.